The play-in game, which has been overwhelmingly successful for the NBA, lives in a sort of purgatory of not quite being a regular season game and not quite being a playoff game. It is a postseason game all the same and, in that regard, it was one long overdue for the Lakers faithful.
Years of tanking and a global pandemic prevented Staples Center or Crypto.com Arena from hosting full-capacity playoff games. While the Lakers hosted playoff games in 2021, it was to crowds well under capacity and much closer to a half-full arena.
Because of all of that, Tuesday was the first full-capacity Lakers postseason game since April 28, 2013.